Indian Point is shut down one week after restarting

BY PAUL DeRIENZO | The Indian Point Unit 2 nuclear reactor was restarted Mon., June 27, after an emergency shutdown the previous Friday caused by a leak in a water pipe. It was the latest in a series of mishaps that have plagued the plant’s two reactors operating near Peekskill, N.Y.

Governor Cuomo has been demanding that the consistently accident-plagued Indian Point be closed since 2001, but the decision remains up to federal regulators.

Unit 2 was shut down in March for refueling when hundreds of damaged “baffle bolts” were discovered in the reactor’s core.

Environmentalists sued to prevent the reactor from being turned back on after repairs were completed. Last month, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the reactor was safe, and on June 16 Indian Point 2 was returned to service.

A week later, a leak of Hudson River water was discovered in what Entergy claimed was a “nonradioactive” system in the plant. The reactor was shut down on June 24 to repair the faulty weld. Entergy said it also tested an electrical switch during the shutdown.

Friends of the Earth, an antinuclear group originally opposed to California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, had filed an appeal in federal court in Washington, D.C., to prevent the restart of Unit 2 claiming that the reactor’s problems could cause “a catastrophic nuclear meltdown.”

Although a panel of judges has turned down F.O.E.’s demand to close down the reactor, the court required Entergy to respond to the safety issues

raised by the environmental group.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden took the side of Entergy in opposing the Friends. Crude said the lawsuit “inappropriately” asks to “substitute its judgment about nuclear safety for the N.R.C.’s technical expertise.” Crude said the federal government “has not identified a reason to suspend the license” to operate the reactor.

Friends of the Earth had called the reactor’s restart “common sense denied.”

Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth said, “Entergy has decided that the priority is to get the damaged reactor up and running by summer to protect their profits.”

Environmental activists have also called for shutting down Indian Point Unit 3, which they claim should be inspected for the same problems found in Unit 2.

Entergy said that the inspection of Unit 3 has been moved up to next year from 2019.

“The issue of baffle bolts that degrade over time is a known issue in the nuclear power industry,” Entergy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, last Tues., June 28, public safety officials from New York State conducted a “radiological emergency preparedness exercise” to test the response plans of surrounding counties to emergencies at Indian Point — including terrorist attacks. The state warned that residents might hear the sound of “artificial gunfire from simulated weaponry” generated by “simulated attack scenarios” on Indian Point.

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